Passport Potash Announces Completion of First Phase of Drilling on Hopi Property
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/13 -- Passport Potash Inc. ("Passport" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: PPI)(OTCQX: PPRTF) is pleased to report that it has completed the first phase of its drilling program on the Hopi private land that is "checker-boarded" with Passport's southern landholdings in the Holbrook Basin in Northern Arizona. A total of 8 holes were drilled in the first phase of exploration on the Hopi property. The analytical results from the first three holes drilled were included in the updated mineral resource estimate reported on February 26, 2013, and were also used in the Preliminary Economic Assessment reported on March 13, 2013.
The remaining five holes have been drilled, cored and assay results have been obtained from SRC Laboratories in Saskatchewan, Canada. The analysis for all first phase holes is shown in Table 1 below. Drill intercepts are believed to represent true thicknesses as the wells were drilled vertically and the potash beds are essentially flat lying. The data from these holes is expected to be included in a pre-feasibility study which is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2013.
Table 1
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DEPTH GRADE GRADE GRADE
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From To Interval K2O KCl MgO
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(ft) (m) (ft) (m) (ft) (m) (wt%) (%) (wt%)
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H1
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1156 352.35 1165.5 355.24 9.5 2.9 8.06 12.76 1.21
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1156 352.35 1161.5 354.02 5.5 1.68 9.79 15.5 0.44
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1160 353.57 1160.5 353.72 0.5 0.15 21.5 34.04 0.47
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H2
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1020.5 311.05 1034 315.16 13.50 4.11 8.38 13.27 2.21
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1020.5 311.05 1028 313.33 7.5 2.29 10.7 16.94 2.1
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1021 311.2 1021.5 311.35 0.5 0.15 25.1 39.73 1.28
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H3
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1059.5 322.94 1069.5 325.98 10 3.05 8.54 13.52 1.54
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1059.5 322.94 1066 324.92 6.5 1.98 9.98 15.8 1.22
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1065 324.61 1065.5 324.76 0.5 0.15 22.2 35.14 1.39
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H4
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1055 321.56 1064.5 324.4596 9.5 2.90 8.56 13.55 1.90
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1055 321.564 1061.5 323.5452 6.5 1.9812 9.56 15.13348 1.49
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1060.5 323.2404 1061 323.3928 0.5 0.1524 21.2 33.5596 2.97
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H5
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995 303.276 1000 304.8 5 1.524 8.58 13.58214 0.279
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995.5 303.4284 997.5 304.038 2 0.6096 11.49 18.18867 0.215
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997 303.8856 997.5 304.038 0.5 0.1524 15.7 24.8531 0.63
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H6
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952.5 290.322 960 292.608 7.5 2.286 8.21 12.99643 2.42
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953.5 290.6268 954 290.7792 0.5 0.1524 16.2 25.6446 0.27
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H7
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963 293.5224 973 296.5704 10 3.048 6.29 9.95707 0.24
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970.5 295.8084 972 296.2656 1.5 0.4572 14.43 22.84269 0.55
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971 295.9608 971.5 296.1132 0.5 0.1524 16.7 26.4361 0.76
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H8
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932.5 284.226 947.5 288.798 15 4.572 8.93 14.13619 1.346
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932.5 284.226 940 286.512 7.5 2.286 13.26 20.99058 1.26
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939 286.2072 940 286.512 1 0.3048 34.15 54.05945 1.72
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The second phase drilling program will be designed by ERCOSPLAN and may include up to 10 additional core holes. Work on the second phase is expected to begin in early summer and the results are expected to help further define the resource and aid in mine planning.
Passport's President and CEO, Joshua Bleak, commented, "We are glad to have the first phase of the Hopi drilling completed and look forward to the recommendations from Ercosplan. We are very encouraged by the results of the first phase of drilling, where six of the eight holes had an ore zone that exceeded nine feet in thickness, and the KCl and K2O grades were consistently high. We are excited to work with our Hopi partners on the next phases of development."
About the Holbrook Potash Project
Passport Potash Inc. is a publicly traded corporation engaged in the exploration and development of advanced potash properties with its major focus on a previously explored potash property in Arizona. Passport has acquired a strategic position in the Holbrook Basin with land holdings encompassing over 121,000 acres. Passport has also entered into a joint exploration agreement with the Hopi Indian Tribe to work toward developing about 13,000 acres of contiguous privately held Hopi land.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
The standard operating and quality assurance procedures followed by Passport Potash employees have been instituted to make sure that all sampling techniques and results meet international reporting standards. Coring starts when the first significant gypsum interval (Upper Supai Formation) is intersected. Information about the drill holes and the on-site core descriptions are conducted according to international standards (depth intervals, recovery %, lithology, structure, alteration, rock type, weathered profile, sample intervals, remarks). Onsite field geologists collect the cuttings, bag and label them and place a small sub-sample into a chip tray for further treatment. Directly after being retrieved the cores are measured, cleaned, filed logged, packed in plastic poly sheeting and placed into sequentially numbered and labeled core boxes. Material is temporarily stored prior to transfer to the core facility in Apache Junction, Arizona, where significant intervals are dry cut in half. Half core samples are then bagged and carefully packed into boxes and shipped to the Saskatchewan Research Council in Saskatoon.
Passport is utilizing SRC's Potash ICP Analysis package designed for multi-element analysis of potash samples. SRC includes blanks, duplicates and their internal potash 003/004 standards in the analysis. SRC's analytical procedures have been more fully detailed in the NI 43-101 Technical Report, dated 30 March 2012, prepared for Passport Potash by ERCOSPLAN Ingenieurgesellschaft Geotechnik un Bergbau mbH.
Tim Henneberry, P.Geol., Advisor, and a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
PASSPORT POTASH INC.
Joshua Bleak, President
Notice to U.S. Investors
THE MINERAL RESOURCES REFERRED TO HEREIN HAVE BEEN ESTIMATED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DEFINITION STANDARDS ON MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE OF MINING, METALLURGY AND PETROLEUM REFERRED TO IN NI 43-101 AND ARE NOT COMPLIANT WITH U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (THE "SEC") INDUSTRY GUIDE 7 GUIDELINES. IN ADDITION, MEASURED MINERAL RESOURCES, INDICATED MINERAL RESOURCES AND INFERRED MINERAL RESOURCES, WHILE RECOGNIZED AND REQUIRED BY CANADIAN REGULATIONS, ARE NOT DEFINED TERMS UNDER SEC INDUSTRY GUIDE 7 AND ARE NORMALLY NOT PERMITTED TO BE USED IN REPORTS AND REGISTRATION STATEMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC. ACCORDINGLY, WE HAVE NOT REPORTED THEM IN THE UNITED STATES. INVESTORS ARE CAUTIONED NOT TO ASSUME THAT ANY PART OR ALL OF THE MINERAL RESOURCES IN THESE CATEGORIES WILL EVER BE CONVERTED INTO MINERAL RESERVES. THESE TERMS HAVE A GREAT AMOUNT OF UNCERTAINTY AS TO THEIR EXISTENCE, AND GREAT UNCERTAINTY AS TO THEIR ECONOMIC AND LEGAL FEASIBILITY. IN PARTICULAR, IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT MINERAL RESOURCES WHICH ARE NOT MINERAL RESERVES DO NOT HAVE DEMONSTRATED ECONOMIC VIABILITY. IT CANNOT BE ASSUMED THAT ALL OR ANY PART OF MEASURED MINERAL RESOURCES, INDICATED MINERAL RESOURCES OR INFERRED MINERAL RESOURCES WILL EVER BE UPGRADED TO A HIGHER CATEGORY. IN ACCORDANCE WITH CANADIAN RULES, ESTIMATES OF INFERRED MINERAL RESOURCES CANNOT FORM THE BASIS OF FEASIBILITY OR OTHER ECONOMIC STUDIES. INVESTORS ARE CAUTIONED NOT TO ASSUME THAT ANY PART OF THE REPORTED MEASURED MINERAL RESOURCES, INDICATED MINERAL RESOURCES OR INFERRED MINERAL RESOURCES REFERRED TO HEREIN ARE ECONOMICALLY OR LEGALLY MINEABLE.
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Contacts:
Passport Potash Inc.
Peter J. Kletas
Manager of Corporate Development
866-999-6251 Toll Free
peter@passportpotash.com
Passport Potash Inc.
Clive Mostert
Corporate Communications
780-920-5044
cmostert@passportpotash.com
www.passportpotash.com
